By BridgeNews
Tokyo--Jan. 16--Tokyo department store sales in December rose 0.5% from a year earlier to 257.7 billion yen, the Japan Department Stores Association said Tuesday. The rise followed a 0.2% gain in November. The data indicate personal consumption has been steadier recently than market participants had expected.
* * * These data, for which 29 department stores in the Tokyo area were surveyed, are usually the earliest available each month on retail sales.
The association said demand for year-end gifts was sluggish, but the following positive factors pushed up December sales:
--December 2000 had two more Saturdays and Sundays than the samemonthof 1999.
--Falls in temperature boosted demand for winter-related goods such as clothes.
--Demand from corporate customers was strong.
--Renewal of department stores' shopping spaces and sales stimulated customer demand.
It said December sales to individual consumers, called "over-the-counter sales," gained 0.4% on year. Sales excluding those to individuals, defined as mainly sales to corporations, rose 0.6%. Sales to individual consumers accounted for about 75.5% of overall December sales, the association said.
Meanwhile, the association said Tokyo sales in calendar 2000 totaled 2.176 trillion yen, down 0.9% on year. End Copyright 2001 Bridge Information Systems Inc. All rights reserved.